


Burned out violets

by Yeehawlix



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Arranged Marriage, But also, Emperor!Kun, Falling In Love, Fluff, M/M, Prince!Ten, Slow Burn, Ten is sad at first, kun is a sweetheart, more characters will be added, stan wayv
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-17
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-10-11 21:29:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17454644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yeehawlix/pseuds/Yeehawlix
Summary: Ten never expected to be sent to the land of foe but a certain peace treaty leaves him with no choice other than to travel to China to become the promised of the new emperor, Qian Kun.





	Burned out violets

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading this fic, I’m going to try my best to update as regularly as I can! Enjoy 🤩

“What is the meaning of this, Father? I cannot believe you’re selling me off just like that!” 

The door was slammed as Ten entered the king’s study, making his head shoot up from the papers he had been signing. 

“What is the matter, Ten?” The king drew out a long sigh.  
“What is the matter?! You are sending me off to a foreign country to marry somebody I do not know nor do I wish to marry, that is the matter!” Ten bit out, his voice laced with fury. He couldn’t believe his father would send him off just like that as a part of the peace treaty.  
“Ten, this was crucial for our nation. I cannot withdraw our agreement with the new emperor of China.” His father calmly stated with no emotion on his face. 

“So selling me off like some kind of object was crucial for this land? Is that it father? Am I really that pitiful? Not even worth anything, huh?” Ten spit out, tapping his foot on the ground. “Enough Ten! You’ll do as said, stop being selfish and start thinking about others for once, won’t you? You’ll be leaving on Wednesday before the sun rises, no objections. Bid a goodbye to others, Johnny will also be joining your journey as your personal guard.” The king looked back down onto the papers as Ten huffed, stepping out with heavy footsteps and tears in his eyes. 

It didn’t take long until the rumors of Ten’s soon to be departure reached everybody in the palace. He refused to get out of his chambers, spending his last days in this palace in the peace of his comfort room, crying. 

“Ten, you can’t stay inside for so long. You haven’t been out of your room for days. You’ll be leaving tomorrow please get out” both Johnny and Taeyong pleaded from the other side of the door as Ten sat on his bed looking out of the window at the sun that was soon to set. 

“The door’s open, come in.” He softly whispered, no more tears coming out of his eyes. 

Johnny and Taeyong slowly creaked the door open making their way towards ten and sat down next to him, worry dripping down their faces.  
“Ten…” Taeyong started but was soon cut off by Ten himself “It’s okay brother, I knew that I wasn’t the one in line for the throne but I didn’t think that father would—“ Ten was also cut off “sell you off? I know Ten, I’m also enraged at his decision. If only, I was in that room when they were signing the treaty, I swear on everything I have, I’d stop father in a heartbeat.” Taeyong spit out with visible distress decorating his face. All Ten could just was just give his brother a sad smile.

“I’m not surprised that this is happening, I knew I wouldn’t be the one to stay here. I was just not expecting to leave so soon…” 

“Your majesty, you can still try to run away it’s not too late yet—“ Johnny tried to intervene but was soon stopped by Ten. “Commander Seo you know that’s not true, they’ll have my head for betraying our country and people. Leaving the nation to despair has terrible consequences and you know that better than I do, you’re a soldier after all.” Johnny looked down and sighed “And also what did I tell you about calling me your majesty in private? Call me Ten! From now on I’ll make sure to be extra annoying, since you’ll be the only one with me in the foreign land.” Ten shot out a weak laugh and looked at his brother.

“As for you Taeyong, make sure to be a great leader okay? The old fart doesn’t seem to have much left. He could be handing down the throne to you any day, keep your head high and make sure to be a great ruler, okay?” 

Taeyong gave his brother a sympathetic look and squeezed his hand. “Will do you fool—” Taeyong’s eyes moved to Johnny “Make sure to keep my brother safe okay, Commander Seo?” He furrowed his eyebrows. 

“Of course, Taeyong. It’s my job to serve your brother.” Johnny promised the latter. 

 

The morning of Wednesday came faster than ever as Ten bid goodbye to his loved ones and got into the carriage that was made for him, Johnny following him into it. 

“It will be okay Ten, I’ll be there to protect you.” Johnny had made sure to remind him, before they started their long journey to the land of Chinese. 

 

To say that it was a long journey would be a stretch, it consisted of three total days of riding the carriage. It was no match to the other, much longer trips that Ten has been to but it was neither short nor long in Ten’s honest opinion. And when they got to the palace it was like nothing Ten had expected, he thought of the palace as a place full of malice and fear but there was none of that. Instead it held a beautiful landscape of a temple like place built from visibly expensive materials, decorated with different colors of paint and valuable rocks. 

“This…” Ten’s mouth hung open as he stepped out of the carriage “This wasn’t what I was expecting…” he slowly muttered out, looking around. 

“Welcome to our land, your Majesty Prince Ten. It’s a big honor to finally meet you. I am Jung Jaehyun, the commander in chief of the imperial army.” The man in front of Ten held out his hand, Ten took his hand without hesitation and shook it.  
“It’s a pleasure to meet you commander Jung.” Ten slowly let go of the latter’s hand as Johnny approached him “Oh? You must be Commander Seo? The one who was assigned to protect Prince Ten, I am Commander Jung Jaehyun.” 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Commander Jung.” this time Jaehyun and Johnny shook hands keeping an intense eye-contact. Jaehyun was the first To break the eye-contact and glance at Ten. 

“So prince, would you let me show you your room? The emperor himself asked me to accompany you as you get to know the palace.” 

That somehow came as a shock to Ten, he did not expect the emperor to care one bit about a man who was a mere child of the enemy. 

“The emperor is a kind man, no matter how many rumors you’ve heard he isn’t his father. He never condoned unneeded bloodshed. Quite admirable for somebody who grew up in a bloodthirsty environment.” Commanded Jung remarked, stepping in front of Ten to guide him into the palace to show him around.  
“Is that so?” Johnny raised his eyebrows as Ten walked next to him, genuinely curious as to just who the Emperor was “I’m sure there have been enough rumors about our people where you live and the same goes for over here. It was even told that the Emperor of Korea had 3 heads, which is ridiculous I might add but Emperor Kun was never someone who judged others because of mere rumors.” 

Ten continued walking, his mind deep in thought as he contemplated about everything that was happening whilst admiring the beauty of the halls of the palace, he surely did not expect this Emperor of theirs to be as kind as described but seeing as to how fondly and with full respect the Commander was talking, it was safe to say that he was somebody that gained the respect with hard-work. But that alone still would never make Ten submit, he wasn’t the one to give in easily and he surely wasn’t about to be an easy target for the Emperor. 

 

He was so indulged in the elegant details of the palace that he didn’t notice when both Johnny and Jaehyun stopped which caused him to clash against somebody and fall on the floor. “Ouch” Ten muttered out, looking up. He was faced with a man that seemed young yet stood tall before him. The man kneeled and offered his hand, which Ten gracefully took as he was helped to get up. 

He quickly dusted himself off and looked at the man in front of him “Ah, Yukhei, you’re back from the mission?” Jaehyun asked making his way towards them with Johnny next to him. “Yes commander, the mission didn’t take long the robbers were foolish enough to leave a trail behind” the man— or Yukhei as Jaehyun had called him said, moving his attention to Ten “You must be Prince Ten? It’s a pleasure to meet our Emperor’s betrothed. My name is Wong Yukhei, I’m next in line for Commander in Chief.” Yukhei exclaimed happily “Ah, and you must be his guard Commander Seo?” He questioned looking at Johnny.

“That is true, pleasure to meet you Commander Wong.” Johnny nodded simply, giving him a small smile. That was Johnny for you, not trusting anybody until he was certain that they wouldn’t betray. “Anyways Prince, this is your room. And the room right next to yours is Commander Seo’s, so he can be close if you are in some kind of need, please do not hesitate to ask for help from the guards down the hall. Commander Wong and I have a business to attend to. See you later during the dinner your lunch will be brought to your room shortly after. Please rest, both of you. The journey must have been tiring.” 

Jaehyun said, as he smiled at them and turned around to leave with Yukhei. 

After they were gone, Ten slowly cracked his knuckles and muttered “I want to sock him in the face.” 

“Ten you can’t do that, you could get us jailed. We didn’t come here to cause another war.” Johnny calmly said as he opened the door to Ten’s room. “Plus why would you try to ruin such a face.” 

“Oh my god, you have a crush on him.” Ten gasped dramatically as he entered the room. Johnny closed the door and gave Ten a bewildered look “Of course not, that is ridiculous. I barely know Commander Jung.” 

“And? As if that can stop you from wanting to tap that fine juicy ass.” Ten said, emphasizing the last three words. “Prince Ten, I advise you to stop making such weird comments about Commander Jung’s backside, that’s very inappropriate.” Johnny coughed out trying to hide his flushed ears “Ohhh possessive, Aren’t we? Heh don’t worry I’m not into men like him you can have him all for yourself.” He blew out a playful kiss, flopping onto the silk sheets that were made for him. “You’re insufferable Ten, I’ll be taking my leave. I’m in the next room if you need anything.” And with that Johnny left, leaving Ten with his own thoughts.

After a while of looking around in his room he wasn’t able to contain his curiosity anymore, so he slowly made his way towards the door. He turned the handle, trying to be as careful as possible not to make a noise. Not wanting anybody on his ass, no matter how much he enjoyed Johnny’s company he still needed his alone time to think somewhere that wasn’t ‘his’ room. 

It wasn’t long until he started to walk along the corridors of his now home. He was still intimidated but also hurt over the fact that he was thrown away so easily and no matter how much Commander Jung had praised the Emperor, Ten was still not ready for anything that was about to happen in the near future.  
To say that Ten was scared would be an understatement, he wondered what would happen to him. Would he ever be happy? If yes then how?  
All kinds of questions lingered in his mind as he gracefully let himself wander. 

He was so deep in thought that he hadn’t realized he had reached a beautiful garden, full of different flowers but when he realized he gasped. The place was vibrant and beautiful and that Ten loved. 

Many thought of Ten as a dark fellow, sure he loved to dress in all black, letting some white or grey slip in sometimes but his mind was different from his reality. He wasn’t just the colors he wore.  
He was bright yet realistic, he has been compared to different things before even a hurricane as a matter of fact but Ten wasn’t all that. Ten was more than he let on, he was more than his snarky remarks and his unmatched beauty. 

Ten was no saint nor was he special, Ten was Ten. It was hard to describe him, even words such as flamboyant or blunt couldn’t match the absolute mess that he was. He was like a painting, forever unfinished yet something in him still made people be curious about him. 

But right now Ten was in awe, he was in awe because of how beautiful the garden was. It wasn’t just a simply green garden with a few splashes of color here and there that he had at home this garden was breathtakingly beautiful. Call him somebody with low standards but the flowers were his peace and never in his life he had guessed that he could find such peace on the land of the foe. But Ten wasn’t complaining.

In fact he quite enjoyed that he could feel his inner conflicts disappear even for a moment. And walking in this mesmerizing garden was calming to say the least, he could go on for hours just staring at the beauty that it was radiating. Ten was simply in love with the idea of such beauty existing in such a sinful world. That was exactly when Ten realized, maybe things like these are worth living and fighting for. Maybe it was time for Ten to show people he was more than just a mere rose in this garden, it was time for him to show people that the person he was right now was just a seed of the powerful personality that he was and this soil that he walked on wouldn’t be indulged in the tragic fate or tears of people that once lived to create.  
Ten might have been scared as hell but he wasn’t about to give up, a mere marriage to the enemy would not break his spirit. 

 

It didn’t take long for the weather to get dark so Ten decided to travel back to his room, to his surprise Johnny was already outside and waiting in front of Ten’s room. Johnny looked at him with curiosity as the younger strolled towards him. 

“I was just walking around don’t worry, mom.” Ten muttered emphasizing the last bit to Johnny gave an unimpressed look.

“You can’t blame me Ten, I don’t want you entering anywhere you’re not allowed to and getting— god forbid, murdered. These are still the enemy’s grounds we can’t let ourselves relax just yet, not at least until the emperor promises your safety.” 

Ten sighed.

“I know Johnny, I know that you’re worried but you of all people know that I’m smart enough not to get caught.” 

Johnny looked at him, unconvinced but decided not to push the issue any further. Before either of them could say anything else they heard stomping and turned to look where it was coming from. 

“Good evening, Prince Ten, Commander Seo” Jaehyun marched towards them with a graceful smile and two people following him behind. To his right was a boy with sun-kissed skin and flaming red hair and to his left was another boy, with caramel hair and cream colored skin decorated with moles, a bit taller than the other boy. 

“Evening, Commander Jung” Ten responded, shooting Jaehyun his signature smile. 

“The dinner will be soon, I came here to introduce you to these two.” Jaehyun moved out of the way, fully displaying the two boys. He held his hand out in front of them and smiled. 

“Welcome to our kingdom Prince Ten, my name is Mark Lee and I’m a scholar. I was assigned to teach you about our culture and etiquettes. And this is—“ 

“Lee Donghyuck, I’ll be your attendant. So don’t shy away to ask for help! I’ll be helping you get ready for the dinner” the red haired boy interrupted Mark, making him huffing out a quiet ‘you’re insufferable’ which made Donghyuck lightly hit his arm. 

“Nice to meet you both” Ten smiled fondly at the other two as they bickered. 

“Mark, come on, we have chores to do. Donghyuck you stay and help the Prince get ready,—“ Jaehyun held onto his smile as his eyes moved from Ten to Johnny “Oh, and Commander Seo would you like to come with us. I am sure you’ve been bored inside your room all day.”

Johnny stared blankly at the man as if he was contemplating something in his head. After a few seconds of silence he said “Sure, Commander Jung. I’d like to be more familiar with the palace.” 

And with that they went off, leaving Ten and Donghyuck to get ready. Donghyuck turned around to face Ten and smiled mischievously.

“Let’s get you dolled up, your majesty.” 

Ten did not like the sickly sweet tone of Donghyuck’s voice but he wasn’t about to demur what he was told to do so he decided to go along with the boy’s order. 

It didn’t take Donghyuck long to finish and when he was done he proudly smiled at his work of art.

“Done!” He exclaimed, pausing for a second. “Okay one second—“ the younger said as he started to go through the box of jewelry that was on the table. 

“Found it. Hehe, close your eyes, prince!” 

Ten obliged, trusting the younger. “Now come after me.” Donghyuck’s voice called as he held his hand and led him towards where Ten assumed was the mirror. They stopped and the younger moved behind Ten and after a few seconds Ten felt something cold on his neck.

“You can open your eyes now.” 

Ten obliged, slowly opening his eyes. When he saw his reflection on the mirror he was fascinated. Believe it or not Ten had never really worn any sorts of flamboyant attire or makeup, he’d always settle for monochrome colors, so what Donghyuck had done was something captivating. There was some tiny of indigo blue and gold on his eyelids and his lips wore the beauty of maroon red. He had a white shirt on with ruffles on sleeves and tight black trousers paired up with black classical shoes and on his neck shone a beautiful necklace that shone beautifully. 

“My god, Prince, I cannot believe that a beautiful gem like you had been hidden behind cold stone walls of a castle. Your beauty is something to be praised and celebrated.” Donghyuck declared, staring fondly at the Prince. Ten just blushed at the complement he received and looked down. 

“You flatter me too much Donghyuck and please call me Ten when we’re alone.” 

 

Donghyuck grinned. 

 

“You got it, Ten.” 

 

As they continued talking a knock was heard. They paused and Ten looked towards the door.

“Come in.”

The door opens, revealing a young man that looked like he was in his early twenties. He stood proud, just a few inches taller than Ten and unlike Ten’s black hair the man’s hair was blond, almost silver. The man was surely handsome, he had a strong yet calming gaze. His eyes held some sort of softness in them and Ten knew he was a goner. Before the Prince could say anything the stranger spoke. 

 

“It’s finally nice to see you, Prince Ten.” He paused, looking into Ten’s eyes. “—My name is Qian Kun and I’m the current ruler of this land.”

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my  twitter


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